A guide to being a thought criminal

Washington, DC(TheAntiMedia) – A question posed by a reader has kept my mind churning ever since it was asked. The question itself was genuine and expressed a desire to change the world for the better, but hinted that he was resigned to the fact that it would get worse before it gets better. This is probably the driest article I have ever written, but it may prove to be the most important. It started as a simple list, but grew as I realized the subject matter deserved better treatment than typical guerrilla journalism provides. What started as a simple hit and run piece developed into a guide for thought criminals.

The question:

I have just recently opened my eyes to what’s actually going on in our world and especially our country. Had I known then what I know now I wouldn’t have children. That being said, I have 3 kids a wife and an income that we barely survive on. I have a feeling that something bad is coming and myself spending so many years just ignoring the signs and living like the government intended me to ( barely making it and struggling). Is there anything someone in my situation can do to first off prepare for impeding martial law and complete chaos? Or at the very least help inform more people and hope they open their eyes.

Waking up is a painful process, and once awake, you begin to see the world for what it is. It’s shocking how much everything begins to look like a movie set made entirely of cheap facades lacking any real depth. You recognize the current system of consumerism is unsustainable and you want to know how you can stop what you know is coming one day.

Even though nothing you do to prepare or fight back is illegal, you find yourself feeling like you are in the midst of a conspiracy against the powers that be. That’s because you are. Rebellion isn’t done with bullets and bombs anymore; it’s done within the confines of your own mind. When you wake up, you essentially become a thought criminal, never really knowing who you can talk to about your thoughts. You know that most of your daily contacts haven’t seen the system for what it is. They are still just comfortable enough to not care as long as they have their YouTube videos of cats and #SelfieSaturday. Out of fear of being seen as a tinfoil hat wearing lunatic, you remain silent with your thoughts and observations until you link up with others engaged in the criminal conspiracy of thought.

Like a true criminal conspiracy, you determine your own level of involvement with the plot. Are you an active participant, placing your name, livelihood, reputation, and family at risk? Are you an open supporter, using your social media accounts to awaken others and suffering the ridicule and conflict that comes with that? Are you a clandestine supporter, following the right pages that allow you to pilfer away little bits of information but never commenting or sharing for fear of being discovered as a thought criminal? Or are you a sympathizer who knows what’s going on, but will swear allegiance to whatever flag is offered to preserve a normal home life until “the time comes?” The depths and reach of this conspiracy of thought go deeper than anyone can imagine and only you can determine how far you are willing to go.

On any budget and any level of involvement there are things that people can do to help awaken others. There are also steps that anyone can take to help protect themselves in the event that the enterprise of saving the world from itself fails and everything falls apart. I couldn’t even guess which is more likely. Maybe those working so hard to bring about change for the better are really just prolonging the inevitable.

Waking People Up:

Social Media: If you choose to become active in waking people up, your social media accounts are the most important weapons in your arsenal. Many mock the “armchair activists,” but the retweets, shares, likes, and comments generated by those that can’t make it to real world demonstrations increase the likelihood that the posts are shown to others, increasing the visibility of the movement and the likelihood of waking others up. If you can’t stand the heat of posting these things from your real account, set up an alternate account and use that to connect with like-minded individuals.

When sharing articles that question people’s closely held beliefs, it is important to remember the truth is never told to somebody, the truth is realized by an individual in their own time. You will never convince a CNN or Fox News viewer that the war in Syria against ISIS was completely manufactured to help defense contractors turn a quick buck, even with all of the evidence. If your intent is to wake more people up, it is better to start by planting the seeds of dissent in their mind with articles that ever so slightly deviate from the traditional narrative. These articles should link to sources they are familiar with. Once those first questions develop in the person’s mind, they will do the same thing we all did and research on their own to discover the truth for themselves. A good place to start is the funding of political candidates. All of the records are publicly available and it’s quick and easy to see that the highest office in the land is bought and paid for. Another good place to start is historical examples of major deceptions by the government against the people. Sometimes past performance does predict future results. Identifying these things as real can be the beginning of the awakening process. Your task in waking someone up isn’t to make them think like you, it’s to simply make them think.

Real World Conversation: All of the same rules apply, except that unless you’re going to pull out your smartphone, you don’t have immediately accessible facts and data to back up your statements. This is where you have to be even more careful about easing someone into the movement. An immediate jump to the subject of the US plan to kill a bunch of Americans and blame it on the Cubans sounds too crazy to be true, if you don’t have the Northwoods documents on your screen. Start slow. Ease into things the other person is familiar with first and give them a slightly different viewpoint. Once you can make a person step just a little out of line, all of the indoctrination begins to slip away.

It’s important to not become too impassioned. The fact is that in today’s world, people view passionate people that are talking about anything other than sports, celebrities, or which political party they prefer to be robbed by as crazy. Remember the average American cares only about the pebble in their shoe or other things that affect them directly. They don’t care, so they will wonder why you do.

Don’t make it sound like a conspiracy or a secret. People will write you off as a nut job. Just hand them the nuts and bolts of things they can grasp easily and let them ask about the darker and more esoteric knowledge.

Protesting: There is a love-hate relationship that many possess with demonstrations. Mass demonstrations are good for bringing attention to the cause, but rarely accomplish anything without some form of civil disobedience being rolled into the protest. Even protests without civil disobedience have their uses though.

For that one day, you know you are not actually alone in the fight. Sometimes it certainly feels that way until you build a network of like-minded activists. That protest can serve to reenergize people who are on the verge of burning out, it allows people to network and to gain experience from each other.

Most importantly, taking off to go to a protest shows your level of commitment. It demonstrates it to others who may be teetering on the fence and need to see someone else taking that step towards change in order to make the move themselves. More importantly, it shows you how committed you are. It lets you know that you really are willing to get off your ass and get in the fight, even if in a very passive role.

“I don’t speak to change other’s minds. I speak to let others who already think like me know they are not alone.”

Illegal Activity: There are always those that are willing to take some form of direct action beyond traditional civil disobedience. Obviously, we are talking about nonviolent activities that blur the line between civil disobedience and direct action. Advocating any illegal activity for political ends is illegal, so of course, I’m saying don’t do it. However, historical examples of people who engaged in illegal activity to bring about real societal change are everywhere.

My personal favorite, for obvious reason to those who know me well, is Harriet Tubman. She risked life and limb to bring people to freedom. Her activities were highly illegal and she most likely would have been killed had they been discovered. Her case best exemplifies the old adage that

“The path to freedom is not always a legal one.”

Be Prepared

Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Many of us know, not think, but know that if things don’t change, the world will suffer a reset as it has in the past when great empires fell. People want to be ready, but don’t want to go off into full-blown survivalist mode and don’t want to go into debt doing it. The key thing to remember is that civil unrest in the United States will be much like civil unrest anywhere else in the world. The US will not be a special case.

These little pointers are not intended for those who are planning on living for decades in some post apocalyptic world. This is more for those who see a collapse as something that will eventually correct itself, people who believe a downturn will send the country into a state more similar to Bosnia during the Balkans War than scenes from Thunderdome.

Knowledge: Without electricity, people do not have access to the same base of knowledge that they have become accustomed to. Assume there will be no access to Google and no E-books. Real books that do not require electricity are important. A first aid book, a survival guide, an encyclopedia, should be available on the book shelf of anyone who is worried about a societal reset. Obviously, this is just a starting place before you head down the rabbit hole.

While the entire country has become obsessed with geotagging and GPS, what good will the satellites be if you can’t charge your phone? Paper maps of the area you are likely to be in should be available.

For those on a budget, all of the above can be purchased at local thrift stores for less than $15 dollars.

Image Source: Jason Devaun, Flickr, Creative CommonsThink First

Necessities: You should have a couple of weeks worth of food, water, and medicine on hand. Many are living paycheck to paycheck and the idea of being able to store away weeks worth of food seems impossible. First it is important to remember that we aren’t talking about enough for full meals, we are talking about enough to survive until the most severe fighting is done. Canned food that can be eaten cold if necessary is inexpensive and is nutritious enough to keep you and your loved ones going. Save old milk jugs and bottle your own water reserves.

Medicine can get expensive, but it may be the most important. If a loved one requires certain medications to survive, maintaining at least a thirty days supply is imperative. Hospitals become trauma centers during periods of insurrection, widespread violence, or civil war. Whatever scenario you imagine, the medicine you need will probably not be available through normal channels.

As far as the desire to purchase antibiotics and have them on your shelves “just in case” is one many possess but they can’t get doctors to write prescriptions for full cycles of antibiotics just so they can store them. It might be worth noting that the antibiotics you need a prescription to obtain are available at most pet stores over the counter. To an antibiotic, a mammal is mammal. In some cases, the same antibiotics you take are given to fish. Obviously, I’m not a doctor and you shouldn’t take medical advice from me.

Weapons: The ultimate discussion in civil unrest scenarios seems to revolve around what weapons a person should obtain. There are countless websites devoted to discussing the age old question of whether it is better to be in a firefight while armed with an AK-style rifle or an AR-15. From long experience, I can say definitively that the best weapon to use in a firefight is the one you happen to have with you when the shooting starts. Even better than being in a firefight with your weapon is not being in a firefight at all. The other thing that can be learned through history is that in times of civil unrest there will be shortages of water, food, medicine, gasoline, toilet paper, and pretty much everything else… except weapons. Weapons are always in plentiful supply in a warzone.

In any debate over what weapon is the right weapon to have, the reader must begin by accepting the fact that a firearm is a tool and every tool has a different purpose. Handguns, rifles, carbines, sub machine guns, shotguns, precision rifles, and small caliber rifles all have very different roles and uses. Picking the right weapon for all scenarios is impossible. It’s like trying to build a house using only a hammer. So unless someone was willing to spend several thousand dollars to obtain a weapon in all of the above classes, there is no point in discussing which is best in each category.

If a person decides to purchase a weapon, they should pick a firearm that accepts ammunition that is used by military and police forces in their home country to increase the likelihood of being able to find more ammunition in the street.

If you read this section, the odds are that you are not militarily trained to the point where you will not be hoping of doing anything with a firearm other than protecting yourself and your family. Stay at home, stay indoors, and stay out of any fighting if possible.

Plan: It’s important to have a plan. Work out ahead of time where you will stay, how you will shelter and fortify yourself, and who you will be with. Stick to your plan and stay safe.

I hope that answered the question fully and I hope that others find it useful. The future is ours to make.

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